Good Hope adds trustee resolution to April 4 ballot

Wednesday

Jan 11, 2017 at 9:39 AM

Michelle Langhout, Staff Reporter

GOOD HOPE — The Village of Good Hope on Monday narrowly passed resolution #2017-1, which adds to the April 4 ballot a referendum question reducing the number of trustees from its current number of six to four.Trustees openly expressed reluctance to pass the resolution during discussion. When Acting President John Connor asked for a second to the motion, which was made by Trustee John Taft, Trustee Tammy DalBello said she would second it, adding that she didn’t like it. Trustee Deana Bradford agreed. Consensus among board members was that the lower number of trustees meant that trustees would need to attend virtually every meeting. “It’s sad that it’s gonna – that it comes to that,” said Connor. “The thing is, if we’re gonna do this, we need to do it now; otherwise, it’s too late to get on the ballot.”A roll call vote was taken, with Connor and trustees DalBello and Dave Farquhar voting yes, trustees Bradford and Robin Riebling voting no, and an abstention from Taft.The resolution was suggested during the December meeting as a way to ensure all the positions are filled. The board will have open seats for the president’s position, the clerk, and four trustee positions (three four-year terms and one two-year term).During discussion prior to the vote Monday, Connor said he hasn’t heard much interest from the community in filling the trustee positions. “Right now, nobody is running for those four positions,” Connor said. “I know Diane (Diestler, village attorney) did some checking…We can’t even have a legal meeting if we don’t fill the trustee positions.”Clerk Sharon Arnold said village residents interested in running can register as write-in candidates by speaking with Jackie Metcalf at the McDonough County courthouse and submitting notarized paperwork by Feb. 2. “She gave me a form that if anybody wants to run in the write-in, they have to have a form filled out. They don’t have to go around and ask for signatures or anything like that,” Arnold said.“If you don’t like what’s going on, get on the ballot,” Taft said.The unusually high number of simultaneous board openings is due in part to a high amount of turnover on the board in the past few years. The departure of Todd and Sherrie Louden left openings in the president and treasurer positions, which were filled by then-trustees John Connor and Judy Baker-Julien, respectively. Shortly thereafter, Tammy DalBello was sworn in to finish out Baker-Julien’s two-year term as trustee, but Connor’s trustee seat remains open. Bradford’s and Taft’s four-year terms are also coming to an end this election cycle, along with the trustee seat currently occupied by DalBello. The four-year trustee seat vacated by Connor is also open for election this cycle. Taft said he has worked in village government positions for about 20 years, and is ready to retire. “It’s somebody else’s turn,” he said.The village can have as few as four trustees because the number of trustees required by statute is based on the village’s population. “There’s a method in the statute for how you transition from six to four. To me, it’s always better to have more people, but if you don’t have people that are interested in running, maybe you need to go to four as opposed to six,” Diestler, who was present at the meeting, said. “The good thing, is you can always reverse it. So if for some reason you get a lot of people that are interested in running, they want a six-person board again, just do the same thing: get it on the ballot, have people vote, go from four to six.”Connor said he will also be drafting a letter explaining the resolution for voters and submitting it to trustees for discussion and approval at the next meeting.

Old BusinessThe board accepted a $9,059 bid from Birkey’s Farm Store for the trade in of the village’s mower and the purchase of a replacement. The board also continued action on funding for the expression swing proposed for the park. During discussion, Bradford recommended that the can recycling money be made out to the Sodbuster’s Committee and have the committee contribute to the swing until it is fully funded. “That’s what (the can recycling fund) was designed for – was to go towards playground equipment,” she said. Riebling moved to continue using can money for reimbursement of the swing. The motion passed unanimously.Connor also suggested metal for recycling could also be collected with a village-wide effort using a dumpster during spring cleaning.Taft said $1,300 has been raised for the swing so far. The price of the swing is estimated at $2,500. He and other board members are continuing to seek donations toward the swing.During discussion on the Christmas lights, Connor suggested a donation to the fire department toward the purchase of new lights might be better than purchasing the old lights from them. Bradford also cautioned against purchasing the Christmas lights, citing the expense of extension cords and the likelihood of the older lights needing to be replaced. She also remarked that the control box might be difficult to set up and operate from the park.The board tabled further discussion on the light and sound display until the next meeting.

Employee reportPart-time employee Steve Bradford said he has been training new village maintenance employee Bruce Burton for the past two weeks, and it is going well.Burton, who was in attendance, told trustees that he keeps a daily log book of all his activities, which he can make available if questions. He said the Chevrolet plow truck has been re-wired and provided with new brake calipers. In addition to the truck, he has been doing maintenance on the riding mowers, weed-eaters, chainsaws and “everything that’s got a gas engine” has been maintained and is running. He said the two-inch trash pump will need to be replaced soon. He salted streets with slick spots, located zone valves and mapped them, including some which were buried in the road and needed to be uncovered.He said he is expecting to get an updated map from Eric Moe of McClure Engineering, which consulted on the sewer lining project. The current village map he is using is from 1964, he said.“There have been a lot of changes, like hydrants have been moved, stuff like that, that are not correct on the map. So it’ll be nice to have all the new maps,” he said.

Other itemsDuring the treasurer’s report, Baker-Julien said that she was able to get a 1.15 percent rate on a 24 month CD at the village’s current bank. She also said she is taking responsibility for payroll back to “take the load off” Clerk Sharon Arnold, who had been assisting with it.The Sodbuster event has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 2, 2017, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Reach Michelle Langhout via email at mlanghout@McDonoughVoice.com or follow her on Twitter @mlanghout1.

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